The Galbadian Three
by Maloire
Summary: A brief look into the past of three individuals... Kiros, Ward, and Laguna.
1. Smooth Move

**_Author's Notes: _**Hey all! I've finally stuck an actual fic up! Well... part of one anyway. So, this is about Kiros, Ward, and Laguna back in the past... Er, touch ups will probably be needed, and details will be tweaked, plus this is 2 years old... Anyway... read on!

_(Thoughts are in italics)_

**The Galbadian Three**

**Ch. 1 "Smooth move" **

**Place: Deling City's army headquarters**

I stood nervously before the desk. I could feel my leg slowly tense up. _Oh, man! Not now... of all the worst timing..._ I quickly put a hand on the side of my leg, so as to steady it. Then I hastily cleared my throat.

"Uh... cough I'd like to join the Galbadian army... er ranks... uh yeah, army. I..." I was starting to get really panicky. _Should I be sounding 'intellectual'... or would he think that I'm trying to impress him? Am I trying to impress him? Should I be? Ah!!_ The intensity of my cramp increased a notch, and I was forced to kneel down and steady it. Realizing the soldier at the desk was staring down at me, I hit my thigh and jumped back up.

"Uh, yes! I wanna join!" I exclaimed.

The guy gave me a weird look, _(Imagine that!)_, but nonetheless picked up his pen.

"What's your name, then?"

"What!? Oh, uh yes! My name's Laguna Loire." I gave him a huge grin. _Yes! I'm in! Way cool._

The guy shook his head and referred me to a room, so I could get a uniform. I skidded down a hallway and filled out an order form, whistling all the while. Things were looking good.

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Oops, just about forgot this the first time through...

**Disclaimer:** Squaresoft (SquareEnix...whatever) doesn't feel like sharing, so the characters, items, places, etc are most likely theirs, oh well...


	2. It's A Start

**Author's notes:** Sorry I've taken way too long to update... I'm pretty undecisive, something I'm not incredibly proud of :P... Anyway, without further ado, here's part two... (heheh, that rhymed...)

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**Ch. 2 "it's a start"**

**Place: Deling City, Galbadia Hotel.**

I was feeling pretty good; my uniform had just come in. It was a perfect fit, but felt a little stiff. But that was okay since it was pretty shiny! Anyway, even though I wasn't on duty, I didn't bother changing out of it; how else can someone get used to those heavy shoulder pads? The helmet had become stifling hot after ten minutes with it on, so it was conveniently misplaced in a closet somewhere. After that I left the change rooms to get some air, the night was still young.

There was a noticeable gaggle of soldiers heading towards a hotel, and seeing as I didn't have anything else to do I decided to follow in that direction. The brightly lit lobby held an air of panache that set it apart from the remodelling shop across the street. (Not that it was a shabby place or anything, there were a lot of cool items in the front, gotta go check that out sometime...) Standing pertly near a stairway was a lady dressed in a suit to match the red carpet. Seemed like a nice lady and all, but her smile was kinda strained; must get some weird characters in the bar. Since I didn't have any gil with me, I regrettably declined the offer to stay for the night and promised to come back later. I headed down the carpet, (you could practically feel the plush-ness!) because that's where the soldiers were gathering.

I scanned the area and spotted a table being cleared off by the waitress, it was near the back in a corner. I sat down and turned towards the stage. Every now and then the spotlight would glint off of the funky chrome chest plate making the table's top reflect back. On top of the well-kept stage sat a jet-black grand piano. 'Grand' piano was definitely a good title for it, the floorboards of auburn allowed it to standout beautifully. There were spotlights surrounding it, giving off a soft glow like that of a candle. _So totally cool..._

A few seconds later the crowd hushed up, and a lady elegantly entered the room. She wore a delicate red dress, and slid gently behind the piano. There wasn't much of an introduction; the crowd seemed to be regulars so it probably didn't matter much. The whole room was engulfed in a mist of music that poured from that piano. Even the strongest and highest ranking soldier nodded and smiled. The atmosphere was serene; the lights softly glowed on her crown of silky hair.

All too soon the cascading notes disappeared in a hushed decrescendo. The pianist bowed as many applauded her, I was one of them. She walked past the mass of blue uniforms, a small smile flitting on her face. I blushed, as her eyes seemed to land on me. I turned away just as she nodded to the whistling men.

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Errm... and yeah, sorry for the lack of dialogue, hahaha! Ahh...not so funny...   
**PS ** Can you guys give me your thoughts on whether it'd be ok to switch point of views? I've got at least one chapter that can't be done well in first person... so I've been debating whether or not to convert the whole fic...

(Hence my 'undecisiveness-leading-to-delays...)


	3. Commander Grouch

**Ch. 3 "Commander Grouch"**

**Place: Deling City, Galbadia Hotel.**

_Ah, sweet Deling City! How I've missed you._ Spending a year at the Galbadian Missile Base sure opened my eyes to see what a wonderful place you are! A whole, and incredibly long, year of training, running around, and surveying; so basically the regular lot of army technicalities..._ugh, just brutal!_

I walked briskly towards the good ol' hotel. Wow, had it been a while, or what. Just had to smile at the fond memories of this place. Before I went off for training, I'd visited around a half-dozen times. Most had been brief, but each night was spent listening deeply to the melodious masterpiece of the pianist. Sometimes staying long enough to spend the night, although that usually depended on my wallet's health.

I stepped into the welcoming inn, still in my Galbadian garb, letting my feet guide me down to the lounge, while trying to keep my mind on finding my way to a table. The place hadn't changed much, but there was a definite influx in the audience. I stood there in the middle of the room, feeling kind of foolish. I didn't want to bother the waitress; she was busy running around with an entire chorus of orders following her.

While I stood there I couldn't help but notice that the table closest to the stage held a trio of soldiers. After watching for a few minutes, it was hard to believe that I hadn't spotted it right away. First off, there was a huge guy sitting there, huge as in major muscle-power, you know, big! The guy to his left was a bit shorter than him, which was _still_ pretty tall, and a darker colour. Even with the Galbadian uniform, you could tell he had a slimmer build. The bulky thing takes at least a year to get used to, maybe less depending on how you spend that year...

Then there was a guy with a crew cut, and a stature to match. Being the shortest of the guys you'd think it would be hard to stand out, but somehow he was managing... Could be that he was practically red in the face; _man_ was he hollering. (_Insert wince and plugging of the ears here, sheesh._) There were more than a few empty glasses in front of him, maybe a little too much for him too handle. That could be why his face was flushed; yet judging by the way that his comrades were looking at him, I had a feeling being drunk wasn't his problem. I continued to search the room while debating on whether or not to intervene; I have a thing against people putting down others.

There's only so long a guy can ignore scenes like that, but this was getting pretty ridiculous. I wasn't a very high-ranking soldier, so who knows if I had the authority to budge in on their "conversation". Judging by previous experiences, I just happened to know that it was a tad hard to justify such actions. Taking a glance-by I did notice he wasn't wearing a red uniform, this meant he wasn't near the top of the army... The ones wearing red were Elite Soldiers, you didn't want to mess with them too much.

On my second rotation the guy was still giving his two co-workers a piece of his mind, no matter how small it was. The two underdogs glanced briefly at each other; I could tell they wanted to end this one-sided fight. Well, what did I have to lose...

_Guess I'll step in..._

I strode over, seemingly confident. _Ok leg, you had better hold out this time._ The mean guy looked up, beet red, and sniffed at me.

"What do you want?" He pronounced each word slowly, as if I didn't understand English.

I admit, I sort of lost my composure there. Gimme a break, the dude had the freakiest eyes ever... not to mention breath that could fall a grizzly!

I stared at the guy for about five seconds before stuttering, "......Uh," man, this was going to sound lame. I raised my index finger towards the ceiling for emphasis. "I don't think you should rag on your men so much. And um... yeah, lay off." Seeing as he didn't answer verbally, he did turn a nasty shade of maroon, I added, "Show some class."

Ok, _that _really didn't improve his disposition. Ten, nine, eight... _it was like watching a can of pop start to blow after shaking it furiously_. Seven, six...five... Steam practically billowed out of his ears, _now he was more like a train_. He stood up, gulping deep breaths like a steam engine, _you can almost hear him chug-chug-chugging. Woo...woo?_

"Now, you listen here!" I cringed, he continued to bellow, "I don't know how you get off talking that way to your superiors like you have a brain! In fact, you're practically more idiotic than these two deformed, pathetic... losers!" He spat out.

I think he added that last sentence because I was leaning on their table; _stupid leg_.

"Well, what do you know? Zabac, it looks like I've been proven wrong!" He sneered at the tallest member at the table, and then turned back to me. "Hah! I guess you really don't have to be blonde to act like one."

He was right about the appearance part, at least for me. As I cast a look down at the table one of the empty glasses reflected my face. My long, black hair fell across my face, and my confident look had faded. (_Wait a minute, what gave him the right to make fun of me, or his _own_ team!?_) I closed my eyes for a moment.

He's asking for it now, besides, his comment didn't actually make sense, even if they were drawing attention from around the bar. My eyes were sort of big, partly because of my darned leg, but mostly from shock. (...Loser? ...Hmph, I wasn't a loser...) While I was hitting my leg, his two pals stood up forcefully. The biggest of them crossed his arms.

The other followed his lead, and said calmly, "Commander, don't you have to pay the concierge for our rooms?" Nice of him, really. To give that jerk a chance to back down. He who was just _slightly_ outnumbered now.

The dude glared a moment longer before sneering. "Of course, Seagill. I was going to get you to handle that, but you'd probably get lost on the way there."

He got up, turned on his heel, and strolled away; his head was held high. The darker skinned soldier shook his head, and then he uncrossed his arms. "Sorry about that, he can be stubborn."

The taller soldier held out a hand, "Thanks for stepping in anyway. I'm Ward, and this is Kiros. Commander High-and-Mighty's lower-class men."

I grinned _(All right! Cramp's all gone!) _and shook hands. "My name's Laguna. Hey, why was he in such a hissy fit?"

Kiros rolled his eyes, "Let's not go there." He waved his hand to dismiss the subject, then smiled, "What was with your leg?"

"Uh... Let's not go there." The three of us had to laugh.

_(Kiros, Ward, Kiros, Ward)._ I silently repeated their names to myself, I didn't want to mix 'em up and look like an idiot... although not for the first time, meh.

"Have a seat." Ward took over the commander's spot, and Kiros shifted over.

"Ok, thanks!" I gladly sat down, _hah another problem solved!_ The room had slowly become packed. It was a good thing this table was next to the stage, otherwise we'd have had to stand on top of it to see the piano.

"So, have you come here often?" Kiros inquired.

"Ah, well I used to a year ago. I was transferred to the Missile Base, but I managed to get shipped back here. How long have you guys been in the army?"

"We barely joined. Our commander is a bossy know-it-all. He didn't approve of our weaponry. We didn't take the basic blades most soldiers get stuck with. Only thing we ever agreed on was to come to this hotel." Ward explained.

Kiros nodded, "Yeah. So, we take it you've heard of Julia?"  
"...Julia?" I thought for a moment. "You mean, the amazing pianist?"

He nodded again, "That would be her. Very talented. In fact here she is..."

It struck me then, I'd been away this long without hearing that piano... Can't believe I'd gone a year without hearing her song... Everything faded away. A dream floated on stage. The performance was as smooth as a rose's petal and just as delicate. Julia. Her music and looks, no thing here could match that. As the music ended I glanced at my new friends' faces. The room was wallpapered by dreamy expressions. I faced forward again; listening (and looking) at that stage was better than drinking. I wanted to go up there and tell her how great her music was. I sighed, she was probably told that all the time.

"Want to order some drinks?" Ward asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah! Sounds good." I shook my head, trying to get back to reality.

Kiros waved to the waitress, she came over and asked for our orders.

"Tantal," Kiros said with a nod.

Automatically Ward added, "Krakka."  
"I think I'll have the Curiel."

She nodded and walked away. We chatted a while on various subjects. The topic wound down to the early Chocobo rebellions, and I couldn't help daydreaming. They were from around one hundred years ago, I had no opinion on whether or not the buckles should be used on them or not, so nothing was there to inspire a comment. While they chatted the waitress returned. Drinks were laid down, and she left, a few empty glasses tinkled lightly against the voices of army men.

The conversation eventually switched to the army. We talked a bit about our ranks and salaries. I found out that their obnoxious leader wasn't as high-ranking as I'd thought.

"That's a relief! I thought I was bluffing, hahaha! Maybe I won't get fired after all!"

Ward raised an eyebrow, "So you mean to say, you just walked over here without knowing... anything?"

I nodded, "Basically."

He closed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. "That's either very valiant of you, or seriously stupid."  
Kiros raised an eyebrow and quickly added. "One _could_ say it's a bit of both."

_(...So, were they hinting at something?_) "...Anyway, how long has he been yelling at you guys?"

"Oh, only from the Eldbeak Peninsula, to here." Ward stated.

I did some calculations in my head, something I picked up at the training from the Missile Base. (_Ok, so Eldbeak is on the north continent of Balamb, you could only get there to here via ship..._ ) "Whoa! That's like twelve hours!"

"He was very uptight. There and back there were no stops. That was ok, because he did all the navigating and piloting. After all, we _'weren't to be trusted with Galbadian equipment'_. So we got to sleep while he grumped to himself." Kiros summarized.

I had a brilliant brain wave, "Hey, him an' I, we were around the same status, right? So, I could replace him! I finished my training at the Missile Base anyway, so I bet I'm qualified to take his spot! Uh... that is if you want me to."

I glanced at the two of them. We had become quick friends, but how far did that bond go? I needed to get a squad soon, and these two guys seemed great. _But I don't wanna intrude on their plans... Maybe I need another drink, where's that waitress?_

A silent conversation seemed to play between them.

Ward raised an eyebrow, (He seems ok, aside from the fact that he's a lunatic.)

Kiros (That could be because he's been drinking.)  
Ward (He wasn't drinking before he barged in on commander Shorty.)

Kiros (Well, he didn't have to do that, but that just shows he tried to help. Besides, we had some drinks too...)

Ward seemed to have been anticipating this move, because he shot back (Exactly, so we shouldn't come to conclusions or make hasty decisions.)

Kiros obviously knew Ward well, he too had thought this through, and had come to his own decision. (Evidently we haven't been drinking enough or you couldn't have come up with that comeback and I wouldn't have caught you. I say we go for it, I don't want to get stuck with _that_ commander, prejudice jerk.)

Ward (Fine with me, you tell him.) ****

I had almost dosed off when Kiros announced their decision.

"Ok commander. Ready when you are."

"...H-Huh?" My chin slipped off my palms, "Wha? Oh, cool! Ok, so uh... right, I guess we'd better head for headquarters... to get me switched over." I smiled. Everything was working out! This was so great, way cool.

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AN: Heh! At least it was longer this time! And more dialogue... Sigh but I still don't like the corny-ness of Julia's performance... grr... One day I'll get around to fixing it :P


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